By Timothy S. Donahue
Top Takeaways:
Plant shutdown: Imperial Brands plans to shut down its Reemtsma Langenhagen factory by 2027, affecting approximately 600 jobs.
Structural shift: The company cited decreasing cigarette sales, high costs, and underutilization.
Union backlash: Labor groups say workers were “kept in the dark” and question transparency about failed sale negotiations.
Imperial Brands is closing one of Germany’s last major tobacco manufacturing facilities, marking another step in the long-term decline of combustible cigarette production in Europe.
The company confirmed it will close its Reemtsma factory in Langenhagen, near Hannover, after failing to secure a buyer, with production scheduled to be phased out by 2027.
The site, which employs about 600 workers, manufactures factory-made cigarettes, fine-cut tobacco, and tobacco sticks for heated tobacco products—serving as a key hub in Imperial’s German operations and its wider European supply chain.
Imperial stated it considered several options before choosing to close. “We have intensively reviewed all realistic options in recent months to secure the continued existence of the site,” said Sami Naffakh, the company’s supply chain executive. “That these talks have unfortunately been unsuccessful is very disappointing for all of us.”
The company had raised concerns about the site’s uncertain future as early as October, citing high production costs, declining cigarette sales, and underutilization—common issues in mature tobacco markets as consumption continues to drop and manufacturing firms merge.
The closure also highlights a larger industry trend: moving production to lower-cost markets while directing capital toward next-generation nicotine products. Labor groups, however, are pushing back hard on how the process unfolded.
“To this day we don’t even know who the interested buyers were,” said Finn Petersen, chair of the Northern regional organization of Germany’s NGG union, which represents food and tobacco workers.
The union stated it was shut out of negotiations and blamed the company for raising employees’ expectations without transparency.
NGG has also warned that the Langenhagen facility is Reemtsma’s last remaining factory in Germany, raising concerns about the future of domestic tobacco manufacturing and the potential offshoring of production.
Opened in 1971, the plant has been a staple of Germany’s tobacco industry for decades, but its closure highlights how rapidly the landscape is shifting.
